It's not big news that air travel - even this holiday season - is down. Fewer people are flying, airports are uncrowded and the airline industry is still fighting to recover from Sept. 11, the tech bust and the recession.

But that's not the case at San Francisco International Airport. While many airports are seeing the number of passengers passing through their gates decline or, at best, stay constant, SFO is on track for a record year, surpassing the 41 million-plus travelers who trekked through its terminals in 2000 - the height of the technology boom.

"We should just eclipse that this year if everything goes as expected," said Michael McCarron, airport spokesman.

For the holiday season, SFO expects to see a 5 percent increase in air travelers over last year. Most other airports in the country are seeing decreases. A recent AAA travel survey estimated a 9.9 percent drop in air travel by Californians, and an airline industry group, Airlines for America, forecast a 1 percent nationwide decline.

But the holiday boom is not an anomaly for SFO, the Bay Area's biggest airport and the nation's 10th busiest. Air travel out of SFO this year should be up by about 4 to 5 percent, McCarron said, with the number of domestic passengers up 5 percent and international fliers up 2 percent.

"For the past seven or eight years, we have seen small but steady increases most years," he said. "Just 1 to 2 percent, but they've been steady."

That buildup comes as many airports have seen their numbers plunge. Mineta San Jose International Airport, whose passenger count also peaked in 2000, when it carried about 14 million fliers, has seen that total drop to about 8 million last year with a slight increase forecast this year. Oakland International Airport carried about 14 million passengers a year from 2004 through 2008 but saw those numbers fall to about 9 million this year.

Decade's ups and downs

Nationally, air travel has grown from 734 million passengers in 2000 to 787 million in 2010, and hit a peak of 838 million in 2007. It's expected to be up slightly - about 2 percent - this year.

"In this decade, we've seen ups and downs," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for Airlines for America.

Just a handful of major airports are seeing significant annual travel increases this year, said Debby McElroy, a spokeswoman for the Airports Council International, North America. While she was unable to provide a complete list, McElroy said Baltimore-Washington International, Dulles International and Nashville are among the airports showing growth.

At least one other, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, expects to have a record year, but the growth in air travel is not universal at the West Coast's major airports. Los Angeles International has seen a drop from 67 million fliers in 2000 to 59 million in 2010. LAX expects its passenger counts to remain flat this year.

SFO's success is no secret to airport or industry officials. Luring Virgin America to set up its headquarters in San Francisco, and make SFO its base of operations, has not only attracted passengers to the popular new carrier, but it prompted Southwest to resume flying out of SFO and motivated JetBlue and even United to add flights to be more competitive.

"We call it the Virgin effect," said Vicki Day, a San Jose airport spokeswoman.

The downside of that effect, combined with the industry trend toward flying fewer but fuller flights, has drained some departures and arrivals from Oakland and San Jose, Day and McCarron said, and consolidated them in San Francisco.

Slower rate of growth seen

The addition of flights to South America, Europe and the Middle East has also helped SFO, McCarron said.

But while the airport may be busier, it doesn't necessarily seem more crowded. In addition to airlines carrying more people on fewer flights, McCarron said, it's also the result of the recent completion of Terminal 2, which allows the airport to spread out the crowds.

As for the future, SFO is talking with other airlines he declined to identify about adding service. McCarron said he expects the airport's growth will continue but probably slow to a 1 to 2 percent rate.